cartoon corner

Name ______________________________

BORN LOSER by Art and Chip Sansom

REPRINTED BY PERMISSION OF UNIVERSAL UCLICK FOR UFS.

BORN LOSER © 2010 ART AND CHIP SANSOM.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

THE ALL STAR 3. Suppose he maintains the ratio of
Note: A batting average is calculated hits to at bats from question 2b for
by hits ÷ at bats during a season or 30 at bats. How many hits will he
other time period. An at bat is calcu- have? If he has 100 at bats, how
lated by the number of times a player many hits will he have?
comes up to the plate. (Specific rules
govern a hit: A player must get to base
without getting an out and without the
opposition making an error. Also, an
at bat is not counted if the player is 4. In 1894, Hugh Duffy at .4397 set
walked, hit by a pitch, or commits a the record for the highest single-
sacrifice to advance another player.) season batting average in profes-
sional baseball. (In listing top-ten
1. What is the real batting average of records, statisticians list numbers
the boy in the cartoon? with more precision.) If he batted
539 times that season, how many
hits did he have?
2. Suppose the boy goes “1 for 3” (he
gets 1 hit in 3 at bats) the next day.
a. What is his average for that day?
5. Ty Cobb holds the career record for
highest batting average. He played
b. What is his average for both for 24 seasons and had 11,434 at
days combined? bats. His career batting average was
.366. How many hits did he have in
his career? On average, how many
at bats did he have for each hit?
6. Sportscasters usually ignore the
decimal when they state a player’s
batting average. Someone who gets
4 hits in 10 at bats is said to be
batting 400 instead of .400. Why
might the father have said that the
boy’s batting average is 3000?
CHALLENGE
7. Slugging percentage, or SLG, is
computed by adding the total bases
a player gains on his own hits
divided by his at bats. Thus, a
player who gets a single (1 base)
and a triple (3 bases) in 4 at bats
would have this SLG:
1base+3 bases
=1.000
4 at bats
Ty Cobb’s career SLG was .512.
What are some possible numbers
of singles, doubles, triples, and
home runs that he could have hit
during his career?

from the February 2012 issue of

Copyright © 2012 The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Inc. www.nctm.org. All rights reserved.
This material may not be copied or distributed electronically or in any other format without written permission from NCTM.
Edited by Stephen P. Smith, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, and Peggy House, Northern Michigan University, Marquette.
Classroom teachers interested in field-testing or submitting a cartoon should contact Stephen P. Smith, stepsmit@nmu.edu.
The cartoons must include the date and the newspaper syndicate that holds the copyright.
1. The boy’s batting average in the
cartoon is calculated from the ratio
hi
hits
.
at bats
ba
His average is 3/3 = 1.000. Batting
averages are listed to three decimal
places.
2. a. His average for the day is
1/3 = .333.
b. For both days combined, he
went 4 for 6, so his average is
4/6 = .667.
3. For 30 at bats, he would get
20 hits. Students could reason
that 5 × 6 at bats = 30 at bats, so
5 × 4 hits = 20 hits. They could
also set up and solve the following
proportion, where x represents the
number of times at bat:
4 x
=
6 30
FIELD-TEST COMMENTS
My algebra students had just com-
pleted a unit on statistics when they
attempted this activity. Since most of
them participate in a sport, we opened
with a discussion of how statistics
were used in their sports. Some of the
students insisted that their coaches
did not use statistics. When students
were questioned further, they realized
that any time someone kept track of
how well a player performed, whether
in practice or during a game, statistics
played a role. Students wrapped up
the activity with stories of conse-
quences for subpar performances.
None of the students played base-
Students could also reason that
since he got 4 hits in 6 at bats, he
gets a hit 2/3 of the time; 2/3 of 30
at bats is 20 hits. For 100 at bats,
students could solve the problem
in a similar way. However, 100/6
is not a whole number, so students
should round to 17: 17 × 4 = 68
hits in 100 at bats. Students might
also reason that since he gets a hit
2/3 of the time, 2/3 of 100 is about
67 hits. If both solutions arise,
this situation would provide an
opportunity to discuss rounding
and expected accuracy.
4. Hugh Duffy had
hi
hits
.4397 × 539 at bats
bats ≈ 237 hits
hi .
at bats
ba
5. Ty Cobb had
hits
hit
hits
.366 × 11,434 bats ≈ 4185 hits
11,434 at bats hi
at bats
ba
ball or softball, so we had to discuss the
nature of batting averages while inter-
preting the cartoon and answering the
first question. This activity provided a
good review of percents and converting
fractions, decimals, and percents. From
there, students were able to complete
the questions independently.
Students often hear statistics in the
real world without thinking about the
underlying math concepts. Activities
such as this provide an opportunity
for them to become more aware of
how math is used in everyday life.
Pamela Haner,
St. Catherine’s School,
Richmond, Virginia
Vol. 17, No. 6, February 2012 ● MATHEMATICS TEACHING IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL
for his career. Cobb had
11,434 at bats/4185 hits, or
about 2.73 at bats for each hit.
6. The father may have mistakenly
confused 1.000 with a sportscaster
saying he batted 1000. If 1 hit for 1
at bat is 1000, 3 for 3 must be 3000.
7. Answers will vary. The actual
numbers are 117 home runs,
295 triples, 724 doubles, and
3053 singles. Students might start
by finding
bases
.512 × 11,434 at bats
ba ,
at bats
at
or about 5854 bases. Thus, one
answer could be that he had 5854
singles. Since students could trade
2 singles for 1 double to get a new
possibility, you might want to
require that they assume at least
100 home runs, 200 triples, and
400 doubles (or other minimums).
OTHER IDEAS
• Ask students to research
statistics on current players
and predict the number of
hits, SLG, and so on that
players have for the current
season.
• In the fall, students could
compute current averages
and project players’ out-
comes for the remainder of
the season.
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